Getting links to your pages and sites is important both for getting new customers and for search engine optimization (SEO). But many people go about asking for links in a way that ends up being annoying or even rude. While adding a link is not difficult, you are asking for a favor. Being rude or annoying is not a successful strategy for getting that favor or the link.
The following guidelines should help you get more links to your site and make good connections to other Web developers.
1. If you're proposing an exchange, you should link first. Many developers will write saying "I'll link to you if you link to me." But in this situation, you clearly want the link more than they do. It comes across better if you offer to help them before you ask for something.
2. Don't imply you are doing them a favor by exchanging links. Even if your site is much better placed than theirs, you're asking them for help. Asking someone to do work for you isn't a favor.
3. Your link to them won't improve their ranking. Yes, getting good external links will help search engine ranking. But chances are the site you're trying to get a link from is already better placed than yours. So linking to you helps you, but you linking to them doesn't improve their ranks significantly.
4. Do your homework. If you're going to request a link, find out if they post external links. Do they post links to sites like yours? Do they have link request guidelines? On my site, if you want to link your Web design firm, you need to fill out my Web designers site listing form, otherwise, I won't link to your firm.
5. Link to them first. If your site starts sending them traffic, they'll notice and check out your site. If your site is something useful, they'll link to you - without you even asking.
6. You don't need to notify your link subjects of your links. Sending an email is overkill - as once your site starts sending traffic, the link or links will be obvious.
7. If you must send an email, be polite. Try to put yourself in their shoes - does your email come across demanding or annoying? Remember that you're asking them for a favor. And be direct about what you want.
The Elements of Design
The elements of design are the building blocks of design. These elements are what make up every page you build. And understanding the basic elements you'll be able to put together more powerful Web pages.
There are five basic elements of every design:
Lines and Linework
Lines include borders and rules. They can be horizontal or vertical and help delineate the spaces around elements on Web pages. Linework increases the readability of the design.
Shape
Shapes make up any enclosed contour in the design. Shapes on most Web pages are square or rectangular. But they don't have to be. You can use images to generate other shapes within your designs.
Texture
Texture gives a design a feeling of surface. Texture on Web pages is all visual, but you can use natural textures or artificial to get the effect in your designs.
Color
Color is the one design element that most Web designers are acutely aware of. But remember that color is not a required element of any design. In fact, a good plan in design is to create the design without color first, then add as little color as you can to enhance the design.
Direction
Direction gives your Web designs motion. In most designs there is a sense of movement in a direction across the design. Good designs lead the eye through the design in a deliberate fashion so that the viewer sees what the designer wants.
The Building Blocks of Design
By Jennifer Kyrnin, About.com
Effective Web Navigation
If people cannot navigate through your site, they will quickly leave. Thus, designing effective navigation on your Web site is crucial. But there are some basic things you need to do before you can start worrying about rollovers or links, images or flash.
Before you can even start to plan your navigation, you need to define your site's information architecture. Information architecture is the taxonomy or structure of your Web site.
Some common taxonomy elements on a corporate or business Web page are:
- Products - the products or services the company sells
- About - information about the company
- Investor Relations - information specific to investors
- Support - help for customers
Some common taxonomy elements on a personal Web page are:
- About Me - information about the page author
- Favorite Links - links that the author likes
- Friends and Family - information about the author's friends and family
Organization
Once you've determined your site architecture, you need to decide how to organize it. You might have it all live in one directory, and just link to the major pages from your front page. Or you might have all the sub-pages separated into directories.
When thinking about your organization, you should think about how your customers might wander through it. Flow charts and storyboards can help you map out exactly how you would like to encourage your readers to use the site. You might want to map out several paths for your readers to use.
Navigation Design
Once you have an idea of the architecture and organization, you're ready to think about the design of the navigation. There are several things you should consider in deciding on your navigation design:
- Accessible
The navigation of your site is possibly the most important part of any given page. So it should be as accessible as you can make it. This means avoiding special effects like Flash, Java, or JavaScript as your only navigation method. - Meaningful
Keep your navigation meaningful. Make the links clear - don't try to get cute or use terms that are internal to your organization. Someone who has never been to your site before should know immediately where the link will take them. - Understandable
If you want to use images for your navigation, make sure that there is some text associated with them. " Mystery Meat Navigation" is the use of non-descriptive images as navigation, and it's much more common than you might think. - Prevalent
Your navigation should appear on every page of your site. While you don't need to have identical navigation, the basic structure should be the same throughout the site, with changes used only to indicate location within the hierarchy.
Once you've designed your navigation, then you can begin to use it. Keep in mind that it is really tempting to change your navigation structure while you're in the middle of implementing it. But if you decide to do this, be sure that you're making the change globally and that it fits with the original goals of your taxonomy and information architecture. My recommendation is to implement the original design and wait a week or two. If at that point you still want to change it, and the change will work, then go for it. You might just find that your planning and preparation were ultimately correct and not change it at all.
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